Happy Independence Day

Independence Day is one of the those day that makes me stop and think just how fortunate I am to live in the USA and truly experience all of the liberties and opportunities it has to offer. I use to think everyone needs to visit a third world country to realize just how good we have it. Now, with the 24 hour media cycle and the internet, one only needs to choose to be aware. So on this 4th of July enjoy and take a moment for gratitude for all you have in life, but especially the independence that comes with living in the USA!

“Folded Flag”

“Folded Flag” © Susan McAnany

Thanks for visiting and more of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com.

Alligator Land

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I live in alligator land, more commonly known to locals as gatorland. Not only does this apply to sports teams names that are abundant in the state of Florida, but also applies to nature walks.

Throughout this spring, we have taken to exploring more of the interior of Florida and have found that no kidding, alligators are in a lot of places and Florida has earned the name of alligator land or gatorland.

Recently on a walk we encounter a small nest of three baby alligators. There they were, nestled in a nature made pool of sticks and fallen trees along the banks of the Myakka River. They looked so cute and I can totally understand why they are endangered. Someone with a medium size net could easily just scoop them up, removing them from their natural habitat and take them home. Of course, eventually they would get too big and too dangerous and we would have another dislocated alligator released somewhere to fend for itself. This is what I was thinking on the way up the trail!

Baby Alligators

Juvenile alligators in freshwater pool.

On the way back we thought, lets take one more look at these adorable reptiles in alligator land of Myakka. As we approached the area, we heard a very loud, big snort. Of course, I am beginning to panic! As we get closer, we see two adult alligators heads raise from the fresh water of the Mayakka River and one big roar. Now, I have never heard an alligator roar or snort and I am not familiar with how fast they can climb an embankment, but I do know they are fast!

Needless to say we pass rather quickly so we are downwind of the two adult alligators and circle back to take one more look at the baby alligators and spot the adults in protection mode. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of the roar. Truthfully, I had no desire to provoke or disturb the wildlife. I have read enough books to know the lengths wildlife can go to protect their young.

Parent on Patrol

Adult Alligator on Watch

However, when I returned home and did some research and discovered alligators in Florida’s alligator land are not found of human meat I was comforted and ready to take another hike looking for them.

Thanks for reading and more of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com.

New Website for My Art

I am just so thrilled that we have finally completed the new website for my art. It has been in the works for the last month and definitely a labor of love. The redesign of my website has given my art a new fresh look. I could never have done this by myself and so happy I chose Stijl for my design partner to get the right look that represent me and my art. I really do want to give a big shout out to Scott at Stijl who wouldn’t stop working on it till we got it just right. I also know I can pick up the phone or send him an email and he will help me out with any future changes to the new website for my art if needed. That kind of Customer Service is hard to find. My hosting company IBOD was also so accommodating with all of my test databases. It would have taken forever and a lot of frustration to get answers to some of my questions with one of the mega hosting companies. A big thanks to both of those companies and huge recommendation if you are looking for a design or hosting company. Thanks for reading and check out the new website for my art.

Etsy IPO

Today is a great day for Etsy as it launches it’s Etsy IPO. The stock is set to open at $16.00 and trade up to $33.00 throughout the day. Who knows what the Etsy IPO will do after today, but I am confident that the company going public will bring more eyes to Etsy and my shop, McAnany. My shop has been doing great the past month or so. Lots of new traffic and record number of inclusions in Treasuries. What is not to like about featuring great art in a Treasury.

It is quite interesting to see the scoop of items being sold on Etsy. Some are original one of a kind, referred to as OOAOK. This is a new term for me. Also, I am finding quite a bit of vintage items sold by resellers. Some very interesting items that often spur creative inspiration for me.

Sales at my store are increasing. Two new sales over the last week. Spiritual, a relatively new print I just released after going through my archives.

Also, Attraction, which is part of my On Black Series.

If you are interested in fine art photography, more of my work can be viewed on my website or at my Etsy store.

For today though, lets tip our hats and raise our glasses to toast Etsy as they launch their Etsy IPO!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Week at Etsy

It has been an incredible week at my Etsy Store. I have been working diligently on driving traffic to my Etsy store and increasing the amount of store listings. I am so happy to write I have broken 100 listings on Etsy and looking towards 200. I know I have plenty of art; it is just going back through many of my archives. It is an interesting process looking at images I shot months, and in many cases, years ago and assessing what I like or don’t like about the photograph. I have to admit I have been pleasantly pleased. Only big drawback is image size due to size of sensor on camera’s using at that time. My first digital SLR was only 6 megabytes which seems tiny now. I am eagerly awaiting the release of Canon’s new 5D which I believe will be around 50 megabits. Also it only captured in jpg and tiff files; no raw files. And of course the tiff files took forever to record due to the slow cards that existed. Also the color profiles were limited to srgb or at least that is all I was aware of at the time. Amazing how technology has changed in a decades time along with my knowledge. Lesson to be learned, shoot in Raw and process in Pro Photo rgb for the largest color capture capable. You can always reduce for final output.

Below are a couple that I uploaded to my Etsy store from my archives. I have always loved tulips and since it is the beginning of spring thought it would be a timely addition. Also I am finding the pink, green and white a real upper!

Prints Available for Sale on Etsy

Tulip love

perfection

Thanks for looking and check out more of my work at my Etsy Store or on my website.

“You can fail at what you don’t want so why not take a chance on doing what you love.”

– Jim Carrey

Inspirational words from Jim Carrey’s Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation. (Maharishi University of Management)

More of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com

iPad Screen Revitalized

I had been having some problems here lately with my iPad. It is a couple of years old and just didn’t seem as shiny and bright as when I got it. Also, at times I had problems accessing links sent to me via the messaging system, though I did seem to get around that problem using various different creative techniques.

Initially, I got the iPad to show my portfolio to galleries and projects to clients and it is helpful for those purposes. Also, I had visions of creating a stunning iPhone portfolio and although that has not transpired, I do enjoy working on my iPhone images with various apps on the iPad, especially when traveling. It is a wonderful creativity booster.

But what I really love is iBook.

But then I had a problem with iBook!! Since getting my iPad, I have become addicted to the darn thing for reading. I thought I would never give up the thrill of turning a paper page of a physical book; then there was the iBook. In addition, I had access to the iBook store, more commonly known as iTunes. I love that I can lay in bed, or on the couch or be in the airport and shop for books. And for some reason, which, I refuse to question, I read at a much greater speed.

Recently, I had been reading this fabulous book by Victor E. Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning” and using the highlighting function. Although, the book nearly brought me to tears at times, I am enthralled with the message. I am using the highlighting feature of the iBook program constantly. I am 160 pages into an 183 page book, highlighting a specific passage and guess what, it highlights the entire book!! Oh …. s_ _ t!!

I spend some time trying to figure out how to undo, and when I do it deletes ALL of my highlighted passages. I am very discouraged with technology and Apple; I ignore my iPad for about 18 hours.

Lazy Sunday morning arrives, I forgive my iPad and iBook and take up reading the book again. ( I generally don’t hold grudges.) I am lying on the couch, my iPad screen is being side lit by the sun and I notice the smudges and grim on my iPad screen. I think “this looks disgusting”. I examine a little further and begin to research how should I be cleaning this darn thing, my beloved iPad. It wasn’t it’s fault after all.

Cleaning your iPad

1) Depending on the degree of filth, you might want to take it out of the case.

2) Optional, blow some of the external dirt or fibers off the device.

3) Some sites recommended using some kind of cleaner, but I took Apple recommendations and just used a soft, lint free cloth. It was a cloth I had previously purchased to use on my Apple monitor.

I was amazed how quickly it removed all the smudges and guess what, I am back in love with my beautiful, bright and wonderful retina screen iPad!! I love this device so much, maybe I should just break down and give it a name!

Thanks for reading and check out my work on my website.

Etsy Treasuries

Several of my pieces were featured in Etsy Treasuries this week. Thought I would share a few of them with you and if you are part of Etsy any type of promoting would be greatly appreciated. The Etsy Treasury is often a very creative grouping of items for sale. The beauty is on any Etsy Treasuries is you are not suppose to promote yourself. So it is one artist helping another.

Peaches & Cream Treasury

Featured Print: Folds of Love

Treasury of True Fairy. Valentine Gifts.

Featured Print: “Anticipation”

the imitation game – birth control

Featured Print: “Birth Control”

If you only knew my story

Featured Print: “Rest Stop”

2015.02.09

Featured Print: “Gotham Power”

There were others, but I think this is enough for one week. Lots of great Artist on Etsy, so if you a chance or looking for anything from art to jewelry to beautifully crocheted items, give the artists at Etsy a look.

Thanks for stopping by and more of my work can be viewed on my website or at my Etsy store.

Survival – New Black and White Print

Just wanted to share “Survival” one of the latest black and white prints I have available for sale. It is an image of a Florida tree living in salt water or maybe just barely hanging on for life. Shot in Sarasota bay waters where mangroves, sea-grapes and a variety of water fowl feed and live. (yes, it is saltwater, so no alligators do not live there) I went out that day because it looked like their would be heavy fog and this particular spot provides a harbor for quite a few sailboats. I was looking for that misty, dewy, foggy morning with sailboats vaguely revealing themselves. Those shots didn’t come out as well as I would of liked, but then this particular tree caught my attention. It also has caught the attention of many water birds as they perched on the branches either resting themselves or fishing.

I used black and white in post processing and wanted a rather overexposed background to simulate and remind me of the fog of the day. It was a great day to be shooting and it helped jump start my creativity.

“Survival” by Susan McAnany

Thanks for reading and more of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com or at my Etsy Store.

Alligators, Babies and More

Alligators, babies and more were the target of my shoot last Sunday at the Myakka State Park. Recently, this has become our go to spot for hiking and general immersion in nature. It is really quite beautiful to see and be in “old Florida”. One of the few natural habitats in my area (southwest Florida) that has not been infiltrated by non indigenous plant species. Everything from palm and oak trees, Spanish moss, exotic birds and of course alligators grow freely, protected and uninhibited there.

We are always on the lookout for alligators. It is easy to spot their hangout spots always close to the shoreline and filled with sun. The vegetation is brown amongst tall green grass and literally all smashed down from their endless lounging. Luckily they seem to hangout on the opposite side of the river as the hiking trail. But one never knows when or where they may cross over, which adds to the adventure of the hike. Often times we see them in water; their partial snout and eyes just right above the waterline taking it all in or maybe spotting prey. Lets hope not human.

This past week, I had my Canon 5D Mark II camera with the 70-200 f2.8L lens. I used a mono-pod for stability and even though the wind was pretty kicked up, I was happy with my images. It is hard to go wrong with that lens. Give it plenty of shutter speed and the rendering is beautiful. Although I love nature and totally enjoy being in it, I will admit, unless I am with a group of photographers, I am not much of a landscape photographer. It requires a level of patience I currently do not have. There as such wonderful landscape photographers, professional and amateur that know how to capture the essence of a scene. I am much more of a zoom in on the details type of person/photographer. This I believe is illustrated with my portfolio at www.susanmcanany.com

Regardless, I had a blast on Sunday and here is a shot of the alligators we saw. This shot contains a momma and baby alligators off to the right somewhat concealed in the vegetation. Very fascinating!

Alligators in the wilds of old Florida

Momma with baby alligators.

Thanks for reading. Make it a great day!

More of my environmental prints can be viewed in Nature Made in my Portfolio.

McAnany Photography

Blog of fine art photographer Susan McAnany.